Cabinet



(No Model.) 7

W. I. OHMER.

' CABINET. No. 425,822. Patented Ap r. 15, 1890.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE- \VILFRED I. OHMER, OF DAYTON, OHIO.

CABINET.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 425,822, dated April15, 1890.

Application filed June 4, 1889. Serial No. 313,098. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILFE D I. OHMER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Dayton, in the county of Montgomery and State of Ohio, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Cabinets, of which thefollowing is a specification, reference being had therein to theaccompanying drawings.

This invention relates to an improvement in cabinets.

The object is to produce a cabinet having a series of vertically-slidingsuperincumbcnt doors, each door carrying a lock or fastening device ofsuch construction that any one door of the series will hold those aboveit in a raised position by the lock on the said door being brought intocontact with stops mounted in the cabinet adjacent to the doors, andwhich will release the said series by the said door being raised.

IVith these objects in view the invention consists, broadly, of acabinet having a series of verticallysliding superincumbent doors movingin guides or ways within the cabinet, a plate or bolt carried by eachdoor, and stops adjacent to the doors, with which the said plate or boltengages, whereby any one door of the series will hold those above it ina raised position and will automatically release itself by the lockeddoor being raised.

The invention further'consists in the various novel details ofconstruction, as will be hereinafter fully described in thespecification, illustrated in the drawings, and more particularlypointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, and inwhich like letters of reference indicate corresponding parts, I haveillustrated a cabinet having a series of vertically-sliding doors armedwith one form of lock embodying the essential features of my invention,although the same may be carried into effect in other ways without inthe least departing from the spirit thereof.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a rear elevation, in section, of a portionof a cabinet, showing a series of doors and bolts carried thereby, oneof the said bolts being in engagement with a catch in the cabinet. Fig.2 is a similar view showing a different form of catch for engaging thebolt. Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view showing the relativearrangement of the shelves, doors, and bolts; and Fig. 4. is a viewshowing the bolt actuated by a spring to keep it normally out of contactwith the catch or stop.

Referring to the drawings, A designates a portion of a cabinet; B, theside walls or vertical portions; 0, the shelves forming the compartmentsof the cabinet, and D the doors. The doors are arranged to slidevertically in grooves E, formed within the vertical portions of thecabinet, only one of the said grooves being shown in this instance. IThe lock for holding these doors in a raised or open position consists,essentially, of a knob or handle F, carrying a shank G, which passesthrough the doors and has rigidly secured at its inner end a plate orbolt H. This plate or bolt may be made of any suitable material, butpreferably in this instance of metal, and is designed to operateautomatically to release the door. Thus when the plate or bolt has beenthrown into engagement with one of the stops or catches I, formed in thevertical portions of a cabinet, to hold the door in its raised position,it is only necessary to raise the door a short distance, when the plateor bolt will by the force of gravity drop out of the catch and allow thedoor to fall.

In Fig. 2 I have shown another form of catch consisting of a serrratedor corrugated plate J, which may be made either of metal or of wood,secured at a point adjacent to the outer end of the shelves. Thisarrangement will admit of any of the doors being raised a shortdistance, if desired, while in the construction shown in Fig. 1 the dooris raised toa height equal to that of one of the compartments before itis locked in place.

If I desire to construct the bolt so as to keep it normally out ofcontact with the catches, I secure a spring to a bolt at its pivotalpoint, as shown at M, and allow the lower end of the spring to engage apin N. Thus when the doors are to be raised, it is only necessary toturn the knob and bring the bolt into engagement with the verticalportions, and as soon as the end of the bolt enters one of the catchesthe weight of the doors above it will be sufficient to overcome theretractive power of the spring and the doors will be held in a raisedposition. To release the doors, it is only necessary to raise them ashort distance, when the bolt will be automatically withdrawn from. thecatch and the doors allowed to fall. If desired, the bolt may be soarranged that it will hold the doors up by frictional contact with thevertical portions of the cabinet. This may be readily done by making itof such a length that when in its locked position it will extend in aplane nearlyparallel to the lower edge of the door.

It will be readily seen from the foregoing description that althoughthis form of a lock is exceedingly simple of construction it will befound of the highest efficiency and'.durability in use and may beconstructed and applied at but a slight expense. I would have itunderstood, however, that I do not limit myself to the variousmodifications here shown, but may vary widely therefrom in carrying myinvention into practice. I may also construct the various parts of mydevice such as bolts, knobs, and stopsof any suitable materialsuch, forexample, as wood, metal, or gntta-percha.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a cabinet, the combination of the vertical portions thereof,vertically movable doors mounted between said portions, stops in thecabinet, and a plate orbolt pivoted to the doors and adapted to engagethe said stops.

2. In a cabinet, the combination of aseries of vertically sliding doors,and a pivoted spring-actuated plate or bolt carried by each of thedoors.

3. In a cabinet, the combination of a series of vertically-slidingdoors, stops in the cabinet adjacent to the doors, and a spring-actuatedplate or bolt pivoted to each of the doors and adapted to engage thesaid stops.

4. In a cabinet, the combination of the vercal portions thereof, rigidstops therein, vertically-sliding doors mounted between said portions,and a spring-actuated plate or bolt v WILFRED I. OI-IMER. Witnesses:

ELLIS J. FINKE, R. M. ELLIOTT.

